UNH UnitedHealth Group Inc

By Matt Grossman

UnitedHealth Group Inc. on Thursday posted a larger profit and stronger revenue year over year in the first quarter, as growth in the Medicare and Medicaid businesses contributed to overall expansion of the company's membership base.

The Minnetonka, Minn.-based health insurer logged earnings per share attributable to common shareholders of $5.08, up from $3.52 in the year-ago quarter. Overall net earnings were $4.86 billion, up from $3.38 billion a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, the company's first-quarter earnings were $5.31 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast adjusted earnings of $4.39 a share.

Revenue was $70.2 billion, an improvement from $64.42 billion in last year's first quarter. Analysts had forecast revenue of $69.07 billion.

The number of people served by the company's plans grew by more than 1 million to 49.5 million, UnitedHealth said. Strong Medicare Advantage membership growth during the annual enrollment period helped drive the company's growth, along with other Medicare and Medicaid program expansions and growth in speciality products, such as dental and vision benefits, UnitedHealth said.

Revenue for UnitedHealth's Optum business grew nearly 11% to $36.4 billion.

Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 15, 2021 06:35 ET (10:35 GMT)

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